All or Nothing: Who Will Make to the Playoffs in Europe?

With two weeks remaining until the end of the regular season in the EU LCS, things are, in true European fashion, still very close, with no team yet mathematically secured into the Top 6 or eliminated from playoffs contention. Therefore, considering it is impossible to say right now who will actually make it, the best I can do is to give you an overview of each team’s situation, what they need to do in order to secure a playoffs spot as well as my personal insight. And make sure to buckle up, because you are up for a treat in the grand finale of the 2018 EU LCS Spring Split Regular Season.

1- Fnatic

Record: 10-4

Recent Form: 4-1

Schedule: ROCCAT, Unicorns of Love, Giants Gaming and Schalke 04

Considering Fnatic’s current record and their schedule until the end of the regular season, a disaster of biblical proportions would have to happen in order to make them miss playoffs. Despite maintaining almost the entire line-up of last year, with support Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov being the only new addition, Fnatic had an average start to the split, but gradually found themselves the right formula, and led by veterans Paul "sOAZ" Boyer and Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, deservedly claimed first place, and it isn’t looking they will let it go away anytime soon.

With a spot to the semis almost secured, Fnatic have a great opportunity to regain the European crown for the first time in almost 3 years.

Prediction: Bye to Semis

2- G2 Esports

Record: 9-5

Recent Form: 3-2

Schedule: H2K, Schalke 04, Unicorns of Love and Team Vitality

Even with the big reformulation coming to 2018, with Luka "Perkz" Perković returning as the only remaining member from the roster who won their 4th consecutive EU LCS title, G2 Esports are playing a fairly solid split thus far. Obviously nothing stellar, but that was definitely expected, as their performances are expected to keep improving as we approach the 2018 World Championship later this year.

However, with weak performances last week, one question raised is whether they will be able to adapt to patch 8.4 accordingly, but nonetheless, with a fairly easy schedule coming to Week 8, they should go 2-0 and be one step closer to book their tickets to Copenhagen.

Prediction: Bye to Semis

3- Splyce

Record: 8-6

Recent Form: 3-2

Schedule: Misfits, H2k-Gaming, Team Vitality and Giants Gaming

After six weeks in a row having a 1-1 record, Splyce finally managed to have their first perfect week of the split, and this couldn’t have come in a better time. Another side that arrived to 2018 with 4 new players, Splyce’s current strengths lie around their two Andreis, Odoamne and Xerxe, whose gaming changing decisions are proving to be pivotal for the team’s progress throughout the split.

With a solid bot lane duo in form of Kasper "Kobbe" Kobberup and Raymond "kaSing" Tsang, Splyce should be able to secure a spot into the playoffs without many problems, and even maybe a bye to the semifinals with some luck.

Prediction: Playoffs – or maybe a bit more

3- Team Vitality

Record: 8-6

Recent Form: 1-4

Schedule: Unicorns of Love, ROCCAT, Splyce and G2 EsportsDespite being tied in wins with Splyce, Team Vitality’s situation is much more delicate. After a furious start to the split, the team simply stopped to improve, with their playstyle becoming frustratingly very predictable to watch, making them an easy target for prepared opponents, who clearly have figure out exactly what to do in order to beat Vitality.

Furthermore, Vitality seem to start feeling the pressure, with players committing an increased number of mechanical mistakes, such as seen last week by Erberk "Gilius" Demir or by Rookie of the Split candidate Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro. However, despite the tough schedule to close out the split, Vitality still are in a fairly comfortable position to reach the playoffs, as long as they win at least one of their four remaining games.

Prediction: Playoffs - but just barely

5- Misfits

Record: 7-7

Recent Form: 2-3

Schedule: Splyce, Giants Gaming, ROCCAT and Unicorns of Love

Last week summarizes perfectly how the season has been looking so far for Misfits: a heroic win against first place Fnatic (against whom they actually hold a 2-0 record), followed by a very disappointing loss against last placed H2K. A team filled with individual talent, such as Barney "Alphari" Morris and Steven "Hans Sama" Liv, Misfits have been simply lacking the necessary consistency and form to fight for a better position.

Such lack of consistency shouldn’t be however a problem to clinch playoffs, as they will likely claim at least two more wins. But right now it is looking very probable that they wouldn’t go past the Quarter-Finals either, which will be a surprising disappointment for a roster so strong on paper such as this one.

Prediction: Playoffs - but nothing more?

6- Unicorns of Love

Record: 6-8

Recent Form: 5-0

Schedule: Team Vitality, Fnatic, G2 Esports and Misfits GamingDo you finally believe in the magic of love? The Unicorns of Love are actually making it happen, and with 5 wins in a row, will be arriving for the final weeks with real playoffs chances. But the main problem is written above: with four of the Top 5 teams waiting for them, the Unicorns have an incredibly hard schedule ahead and will need more than just the positive momentum to do the once seemed impossible and keep the hopes of reaching the finals in Copenhagen alive.

Two of the main reasons for UOL’s recovery, Fabian "Exileh" Schubert and Samuel "Samux" Fernández Fort need to be absolutely immaculate and be the carries their team want them to be in order to solve such a complicated task. But let’s be honest: do you really think that the Unicorns of Love will be willing to stop now?

Prediction: Playoffs - despite the colossal schedule they have.

6- Giants Gaming

Record: 6-8

Recent Form: 1-4

Schedule: Schalke 04, Misfits, Fnatic and Splyce

It seems that the gas runs out for Giants Gaming. Similar to Team Vitality, they couldn’t show further signs of improvement following an exciting start to the season, mainly due to the fact that they couldn’t adapt to the meta fast enough – and are paying dearly for it. Which is a very worrying sign for a roster without many big stars, considering they can’t depend on a genius’ play of an exceptional player to turn the adverse situation in their favor.

No, instead, Giants’ strengths lied on their collective play for the most part of the split, which is exactly why their situation is so complicated now. Moreover, with a hard schedule until the end of the regular season, they definitely need to find quickly themselves, as a team, once again, if they want to stay in the race.

Prediction: Early Vacation – despite the strong start to the split.

6- ROCCAT

Record: 6-8

Recent Form: 2-3

Schedule: Fnatic, Team Vitality, Misfits, and H2KThings are also not looking easy for ROCCAT, but at least they have some reasons to think more positively, considering that they are coming from a fairly positive week, with a win over Giants and a very, very close loss to uprising side Splyce.

With players such as jungler Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi showing good performances of late, ROCCAT could actually have a chance, but their tough schedule – including an opener against Fnatic – may prove simply a too big obstacle to overcome, which will potentially send the team to an early vacation to lick their wounds and prepare for a better Summer Split.

Prediction: Early Vacation – hard schedule… and others are simply better right now.

9- Schalke 04

Record: 5-9

Recent Form: 1-4

Schedule: Giants Gaming, G2 Esports, H2K and FnaticComing to the 2018 Season as of the most hyped European sides, featuring top European stars such as Tamás "Vizicsacsi" Kiss and Oskar "Vander" Bogdan, Schalke 04 is surely the biggest disappointment of the EU LCS Spring Split. A team in shambles right now, which even forced an apology statement by the coaching staff, Schalke have minimal hopes to reach the playoffs, which become even lower even we take a look at their schedule, which includes games against G2 Esports and Fnatic.

Schalke need to start planning for the summer right now and consider changes, because despite the stacked roster and a competent coaching staff, things are somehow simply not working the way the organization planned for this year.

Prediction: Early Vacation – simply too weak right now.

10- H2K

Record: 5-9

Recent Form: 3-2

Schedule: G2 Esports, Splyce, Schalke 04 and ROCCAT

With a roster deemed weak on paper since the start of the split, H2K looked for changes after a terrible start, bringing in midlaner Marcin "Selfie" Wolski and veteran jungler Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema for Marc "Caedrel" Lamont and Lucas "Santorin" Larsen last month. But despite the situation in the standings not changing much, the team have been showing glimpses of hope for their fans, such as in the last game of Week 7, where they dominated Misfits in order to claim a surprising win.

Still, it is unlikely that this will be enough for them: a hard Week 8 schedule, allied with the gap between them and the sides currently on the playoffs spots means that an early vacation is the most logical outcome for H2K, who need to use the break well in order to simply show something different in the Summer Split.

Prediction: Early Vacation – the comeback came way too late.

(Pictures courtesy of Riot Games)

Disclaimer: The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance.